1976 Topps #180 Rich Gossage
About Rich Gossage
Two cards cover the 1975 season, the one in which Chuck Tanner committed Gossage to the bullpen. #180 shows him with the White Sox, and #205, from the League Leaders subset, pairs Al Hrabosky of St. Louis with Gossage of the White Sox. He led the American League with 26 saves and posted a 1.84 ERA. He struck out 130 in 141 2/3 innings and allowed three home runs. In 1976 new manager Paul Richards put him in the rotation, and he went 9-17 while making the All-Star team as a starter. "I almost went nuts waiting five days to pitch," he said later.
Rich Gossage was one of the first modern closers, a right-hander with a rising 100 mph fastball, a bold mustache and a habit of pitching two or three innings to finish a game. Over 22 seasons, 1972 to 1994, he worked 1,002 games for nine clubs and saved 310. He went 124-107 with a 3.01 ERA, led the American League in saves three times and made nine All-Star teams. With the Yankees he saved a career-high 33 games in 1980 and finished third in both the MVP and Cy Young voting. He posted a 0.77 ERA in 1981, and in 1983 he broke Sparky Lyle's club record of 141 saves. He signed with San Diego for 1984 and saved Game 5 of the NLCS against the Cubs, sending the Padres to their first World Series, where Kirk Gibson homered off him in the deciding Game 5 after Gossage refused an intentional walk. On August 6, 1988, with the Cubs, he became the second pitcher to reach 300 saves. Later stops included the Giants, a second turn with the Yankees, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in Japan, Texas, Oakland and Seattle, where on August 4, 1994 he became the third pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 630 | 18 | 237 | 241 | 63 | 34 | 16 | 19 | 2 |
| SGC | 62 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
More Rich Gossage in this set: #205 League Leaders
Team card: #656 Chicago White Sox Team
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #23 Brian Downing
- #47 Jesse Jefferson
- #80 Jim Kaat
- #110 Carlos May
- #131 Bill Stein
- #154 Bucky Dent
- #205 1975 Major League Leading Fireman
- #212 Pat Kelly
- #237 Dave Hamilton
- #258 Nyls Nyman
- #282 Dan Osborn
- #309 Bill Melton
- #333 Bob Coluccio
- #368 Wilbur Wood
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #180 card?
It is card #180 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rich Gossage of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-25.